New conversion campaigns in ChatGPT Ads get Target CPA instead of Max Bid from Monday, November 9, 2026, and new click campaigns can use Target CPC. For existing campaigns, Max Bid and Max CPC retire on January 1, 2027 (OpenAI Help Center).
You trade a ceiling on every auction bid for an average target. That brings more volume and less manual bidding, but a single conversion can cost more than the target. And Target CPA learns from your conversions, so it is only as good as your tracking.
The three bidding strategies
- Intelligent bidding, formerly Maximize Results (Autobid). The system adjusts bids and delivery to get the result you want within your budget. You do not set a target cost.
- Target CPA for conversion campaigns: the average amount you want to pay for a conversion, such as a purchase or a lead.
- Target CPC for click campaigns: the average amount you want to pay for a click.
With Target CPA and Target CPC the system bids above or below your target in single auctions and works toward the average. A $50 Target CPA tells the system to work toward an average conversion cost of $50. Some conversions cost more, some less, and the actual average can be higher or lower than the target (OpenAI Help Center).
Why a target can beat a cap
A bid cap limits every auction in the same way, even where a conversion is likely. A target lets the system bid more for people who are likely to convert and less for others, and keep the average. This can bring more conversions from the same budget, if the system sees real conversions.
Deadlines for Max Bid and Max CPC
Max Bid sets a ceiling for the auction bid, and Max CPC sets a maximum click bid. OpenAI calls them legacy bid controls. They retire on January 1, 2027 for existing campaigns, and you can begin moving campaigns to the new options in Ads Manager from November 9, 2026 (OpenAI Help Center).
For campaigns created through the API:
- Before November 18, 2026, the Max Bid and Max CPC fields keep their behavior.
- From November 18, OpenAI recommends the new Target CPA and Target CPC fields. The old fields work through December 31, but creating a campaign with them selects Target CPA or Target CPC, and the values become average-cost targets, not maximum bids.
- From January 1, 2027, the Max Bid and Max CPC fields are deprecated.
If you buy ChatGPT Ads through a tool, ask its developer when it moves to the new fields.
Target CPA does not mean you pay per conversion
The auction decides which ads show, and the final winning auction bid sets the price you pay. This rule applies to all strategies. The bidding goal and the billing event are separate settings: a campaign can optimize for conversions and be charged for clicks or impressions (OpenAI Help Center). If you pay per click and your tracking breaks, you keep paying for the clicks.
Start from your actual CPA
OpenAI’s advice (OpenAI Help Center):
- Look at the recent actual CPA for the same conversion event, or the actual CPC for a click campaign, over a consistent period. Allow for the delay of conversion reports.
- Compare it with what the result is worth to your business.
- Start from the actual result. In OpenAI’s example, $400 of spend and 10 purchases give an actual CPA of $40. A $20 target does not mean the system can deliver purchases at half the cost.
- A target below recent performance may restrict delivery.
Where an audience bid multiplier is available, it changes the target for that segment: a $50 Target CPA with a 1.2× new-customer multiplier gives that segment a $60 target. That is how you pay more for a segment that is worth more to you.
ChatGPT Ads is new, so you will have little history to set the first target from.
Check the conversion signal first
Before you set a target, check what the system will learn from:
- Set up the OpenAI Pixel, the Conversions API or both, and select a supported conversion event.
- Check that real events arrive at the data source linked to the campaign. Setup alone is not proof.
- Event Quality Score (EQS) shows how useful the event data is. A high score does not mean that there are enough conversions to scale.
- Fix the event quality warnings: missing matching information, delays, repeated events.
Weak or missing conversion signals can reduce delivery and leave budget unspent (OpenAI Help Center).
Which campaigns to move first
I would move the campaigns with stable conversion data first, with the target at the actual CPA. Keep campaigns with few conversions on Intelligent bidding with a budget limit until they collect data. And do not set a low target to save money. It saves money by not delivering.
Before you switch
- Record the actual CPA or CPC of each campaign over the same period.
- Check that the pixel or the Conversions API sends real purchases or leads, and fix the EQS warnings.
- Set the first target at the actual CPA, not below it.
- Move Max Bid and Max CPC campaigns before January 1, 2027.
- Judge the result by the leads and sales in your CRM: ChatGPT Ads reports what its own pixel and API receive.